MU2K14: Astonishing Avengers
by Marvel Universe 2K14
Summary: Earth's Mightiest Heroes regroup and rebuilt and do what they do best protect the world
1. Chapter 1

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #1

REFORMATION PART 1:RECRUITMENT

By:DBZ

Stark Tower, two weeks after the events of Fear Itself

The earth's mightiest heroes were still picking up the pieces from the events that transpired two weeks. The Serpent and his forces had crippled not just the heroes, but also the entire planet was left in shambles. Due to the devastating events, many members of earth's greatest super hero team the Avengers had deiced to go their own path's in order to defend their own homes in case of another assault of this magnitude would ever happen again. Currently two more Avengers were departing from the group.

Captain America: You're both leaving the team?

Spider-Man: It's nothing personal Cap, it's just that neither  
Logan or I can keep up with being Avengers and still deal with other things that come our way, I can't really speak for  
Wolverine, but I've come to the realization that I can't keep up with being an Avenger and with Reed and his family needing me more than ever since Johnny's gone and not to mention the problems in my own life-

Wolverine: *interrupts Spider-man* as for me, I got a whole school to run now Steve and besides, I never really felt right among you guys since I joined; no offense

Captain America: None taken Logan, if that's how you both feel, then I can't stop you

There was a silence among the three heroes for few seconds, until Spider-man spoke up.

Spider-Man: Uh...so can we go?

The super solider only nodded in response. Both the web-slinging warrior and the metal clawed mutant shook the leader of team's hand before walking out of the Avengers meeting room, as they left; they passed by two heroes who wished to remain the team: Tony Stark a.k.a Iron Man and Clint Barton a.k.a Hawkeye.

Hawkeye: So Pete and Logan called it quits to? Man we've got teammates leavening left and right, Jessica just told me and Tony that she quit so she could hunt down the remaining Skrulls on earth like she was doing before she re-joined the team

Captain America: So how many have wanted to stay?

Ironman: Just you, me, Clint and Hulk. Speaking of which; where is our big red wrecking machine?"

Hawkeye: He left about an hour ago, he seemed a bit...agitated to say the least, he said he wanted to go blow off some steam

Ironman: So what do we do now?

Steve stood up from the chair he was sitting in and picked up his shield before speaking to his friends.

Captain America: We make a new Avengers team, one that can be ready for action at a moment's notice and I know just the people for the job

...

Alberta, Canada

Rulk: *fighting a pack of Wendiego's* is that it? Is that all you got? I'm hardly impressed! *rips one in half*  
Ross wasn't fighting these monsters because of a solo mission that Steve sent him on or a personal vendetta against these creatures, No the Rulk was here to do one thing: smash them for the hell of it. He trying to his head clear of the events in Manhattan where he failed horrible to defeat the worthy possessed Thing in battle, this lead to Thor stepping in and battling (as well as defeating) two of the Serpents warriors at the cost of his own life. Ross was angered about two thing one being that he didn't feel strong enough to stop at least one of those monsters, the other being that he had shown the entire world that he wasn't the strongest there is. While he was deep in thought, he did not see the Wendiego that had snuck up behind him and leap onto the red hulk's back. Ross roared in pain as the monsters fangs dug deep into his shoulder

Rulk: *thinking to himself* I'll never be as strong as Banner, Damn it all! *pulls it off of him and then grabs the Wendigo and crushes its head*

Drunk with fury and self-pity Ross blindly slaughtered the entire pack of cannibalistic abominations without pity or remorse for the creatures.

Ross: I'm still not satisfied I want another challenge, I want show that I'm stronger then Banner!

Just then the shadow formed at the red goliath's feet moments after his demand. Before Ross could do anything or even move a muscle, the shadow reached out in the form of a black slime and entered his body. Rulk tired to withstand the possession, but it was no use the entity had a stronger will then Ross had and within seconds the unknown being had full control of his body.

Nuul: Not much of a body, but my new masters have ordered me to control his form and if they command then Nuul the breaker of worlds shall obey!

Stark Tower, Seven hours later

It took the entire day for Steve to bring the heroes that he wanted onto the new team of Avengers, but it worked. He had successfully summon the recruits that he handpicked, the roster included veterans such as Black Panther(T'challa),The Falcon (Sam Wilson) and Firestar (Angelica Jones) and two newcomers Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady) and Songbird (Melissa Gold). They had gathered around inside of Tony Stark's office to hear Cap's welcoming speech as Ant-Man called it.

Captain America: I'm glad you all could make it

Ant-Man: *mumbles* it's not like we couldn't say no to you...

Firestar: Where are Clint and Tony?

Captain America: There investigating a disturbance in downtown Manhattan, we'll be joining them shortly

Songbird: Can I ask question

Captaian America: Go ahead Melissa

Songbird: I think I speak for everyone when I say: why did you pick us?

Falcon: You mean why did he pick you and tiny over there?

Ant-Man: Hey!

Melissa shot a glare at the sentinel of liberty's former partner, while it was true that while Melissa wasn't proud of her past as Screaming Mimi Falcon had no right to bring it up. Sam glared daggers right back at the former Thunderbolt member; he didn't like the idea of both her and the new Ant-man (who once worked for Norman Osborn) were allowed to be on this incarnation of the Avengers.

Captain America: *In a calm tone* Alright you two. Take it easy, were on the same side here

Black Panther: If I may repeat Mrs. Gold's question: why us?

Firestar: yeah, it's not like a lot of us we're on the A-list of superheroes or anything

Captain America: The world's a different place now. Ever since the Serpents attack I've come to realize that we need an Avengers team that can be at the ready the moment a disaster hits the world and can prevent the losses like we did during that event and those before it. So I ask you not as people or friends, but as heroes: will you be those Avengers that the world needs?

There was a silence among the group as they looked at one another as if reviewing the situation in their heads. It was then that Firestar spoke up.

Firestar: I'll join you Cap, you and the others have always been there for me so it's the least I could do for you.

Falcon: You know I'd follow you to hell and back Steve, count me in

Black Panther: You have my full support as well

Songbird: I'm in, unless you have a problem with that Falcon

Falcon: Not unless you make one

Ant-Man: Do we get good dental on this team?

Songbird: *glares* O'grady...I swear to god...

Ant-Man: Ok easy, I was just kidding! I'm in as well

Captain America *communicator goes off* Go ahead Tony

Ironman: *over the communicator* Steve we need back up! its  
Hulk he's-Arrragh! *communicator goes dead*

Captain America: Tony, are you there? Dammit! Alright Avengers, Assemble!

Next Time: The newly formed Avengers face off with the red hulk who has been taken over by Nuul, meanwhile Firestar and Ant-Man are sent to the Savage Land to recruit another newcomer to the team: Skaar, the son of Hulk! But the question is: will he want to join them?

Astonishing Avengers, Issue 2 Coming Soon!


	2. Chapter 2

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #2

REFORMATION PART 2: SKAARED

By:DBZ

The Savage Land

When Eric O'Grady was first approached by Steve Rogers to join the main Avengers team instead of stay on the Secret Avengers, he jumped at the chance to grasp the fame and status of such heroes like Ironman or the late Thor, however trudging through a humid dinosaur infested jungle in the middle of north pole searching for another recruit for the team wasn't really what he had in mind; on the other hand though he manage to dodge out on fighting the rouge Red Hulk and plus he got some alone time with Firestar.

Ant-Man: I'm glad Cap let me tag along for this mission

Firestar: As I recall, you snuck aboard the Quinjet when Steve asked me to go on this mission alone and when Cap  
found out, you begged him to stay and help me locate our new team member

Ant-Man: minor details babe, by the way; who are we looking for out here anyway? It's gotta be that Tarzan wanna be Ka-Zar right?

Firestar: No, his name is Skaar

Ant-Man: Wait backup, are you talking about the Hulk's kid, that Skaar?

Firestar: Yes, is something wrong about that?

Ant-Man: Yeah there is, were looking for a gamma-powered Conan the barbarian in the middle of a live action Jurassic Park for Christ's sake! I mean if we're looking to replace the one that went nuts on us, can't we just go looking for another hulk that's better qualified like maybe She-Hulk or A-Bomb?

Firestar: Cap wants Skaar on the team because he believes that he has a lot of untapped potential within him and wants to point him in the right direction rather than let him be a pawn for someone like Doom or Osborn

Ant-Man: Ok I can understand that, but can't we have just stayed on the Quinjet and searched for him with some Gamma scanner thingy?

Firestar: It's hardly that simple Eric

Ant-Man: And further more babe, what makes Cap think that jade jaws junior is gonna say yes to us anyway?

All of a sudden, a massive dark green figure leapt out from the tree tops above the two heroes and landed in front of them, the massive figure then drew out a very large blade and pointed it directly at Ant-Man's face.

Skaar: *grins darkly* I don't know, maybe if you say please I might; then again, I might just cut you both in half and call it a day

Ant-Man: ...Maybe I should've joined the rest of the team for the battle with the rouge hulk  
Skaar: Rouge hulk? *puts away sword* tell me what you know

Elsewhere, with the Avengers...

To say the situation looked bad would be the understatement of the year in Steve's eyes right now. Ross was clearly not himself by the looks of things and Tony and Clint were badly injured from their fight with the renegade hulk before the rest of the team's arrival, Hawkeye was lying very still on the ground while Tony had been thrown into a building. The sentinel of liberty needed to think of a plan quickly or he might lose two members of his team as well as good friends. The possessed avenger was busy destroying building at the moment and didn't notice the team's arrival on the scene. This gave the team's leader to formulate a quick plan.

Captain America: Falcon, get Ironman and Hawkeye to safety then rejoin the rest of the team as soon as you can

Falcon: You got it Cap *fly's off to rescue Ironman and Hawkeye*

Captain America: Panther, Songbird with me; we're taking the fight to Hulk!

The three heroes charged at the worthy controlled monster at full force, ready to bring the beast down.

Nuul: *turns around* ah, so the rest of my prey has come to die by my hands!

Songbird: look at those makings on his skin, they look like-

Captain America: I know Songbird, its Nuul

Black Panther: One of the Serpent's worthy? But they were destroyed

Songbird: Tell him that!

Nuul: *picks up a large chunk of the ground* Perish!

The monster hurled the massive object at the heroes; however  
Songbird managed to put up a quick barrier around the team which protected them from the oncoming chuck of earth. Melissa then morphed her barrier into a giant hammer and brought down on Nuul's head.

Songbird: This doesn't make any sense, if this is one of the worthy then why is he in this Hulk's body and not have his hammer?

Captain America: I have no idea, but I intend to find out

Nuul: *destroys the hammer* Fools! You cannot stop me!

The sentinel of liberty hurled his shield at the raging monster's head, when it made contact with Nuul's face; the monster stumbled back in agony. Songbird pressed the attack by shooting a blast of energy from her hands along with T'challa who hurled throwing knives and small explosives as well, however Nuul quickly shrugged off the assault and slammed his fist on the ground, knocking the Avengers off balance; this gave the one of the Worthy the opportunity to once again go on the offensive. He leapt forward and landed on Songbird, luckily she managed to put up a barrier around her body to shield her from the full impact of the Rulk's attack, but the force of the blow knocked her unconscious. He then turned his attention to the former king of Wakanda, the raging monster ripped out a street lamp and smacked Black Panther into a nearby car.

Nuul: *turns to face Captain America* your allies have been crushed and you stand alone mortal

Captain America: *Smirks* not all of my allies are gone *points behind him* in fact the cavalry just arrived!

The breaker of worlds turned around only to see a massive green fist slam into his face and send him flying into a building. Steve smiled in relief to see Ant-Man, Firestar and the newest Avenger Skaar ready for combat.

Skaar: That felt good

Firestar: Sorry where late Cap, Skaar took some major convincing

Ant-man: You try talking sense into the son of the Hulk and see how well that goes

Captain America: All that matters is that you're here, now let's end this!

Nuul: *gets up and walks out of the wreckage of the building* Indeedmortal, let us end this *charges at the team* with your blood on my hands!

Next Issue: It's the final round in the battle between Nuul and The Avengers and all is reveled, how did Ant-Man convince Skaar to join the team? Who are the new masters of Nuul? plus another hero will join the team and turn the tide, but when the dust clears; one Avenger will fall!

Astonishing Avengers, Issue 3 Coming Soon!


	3. Chapter 3

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #3

REFORMATION PART 3:ASSEMBLED

By: DBZ

The Savage Land, 2 hours earlier...

Skaar: Talk human, what's this about a rouge hulk? And talk fast before I separate your head from your neck!

Ant-Man: Well our Hulk went bonkers and is tearing up New York like a wet tissue paper and we came to this crap shack to bring you in to smash the son of a bitch

Firestar: *face palms* you have such a way with words Eric...

Skaar: is that a fact? Well you can forget it; I could care less about what happens to the likes of you, I've got a home of my own why should help you puny humans?  
With that, the son of the Hulk turned away from two Avengers and began to walk from them; suddenly a dark shadow came of the gamma powered goliath. He looked up only to see a massive hand come down from above and snatch up the barbaric beast, he was then lifted into the air and brought to eye level with the now gigantic Ant-Man.

Ant-Man: You squirm and I squeeze, got it?

Firestar: *fly's up to Ant-Man's face* I didn't know this suit could grow as well

Ant-Man: *smirks* Pym particles at their finest sweet-cheeks *looks back at Skaar* now as for you-

Before he could say another word, the gamma powered beast broke free of the giant's hold and leapt forward at Ant-Man's face and with one great punch, he toppled the Avenger.

Firestar attempted to assist her teammate, but was back handed into a tree; knocking her out cold.

Ant-Man: *Shirks back down to normal height* okay...I'm hurt now...

Skaar: that was pretty stupid, even for a human *draws sword* and it's going to be your last mistake  
The barbarian raised his sword and prepared to plunge it into the hero's chest, but then O'Grady shrank at the last second and narrowly dodged the blade. The tiny Avenger then quickly ran up Skaar's leg and along his body until he made into his opponent's ear.

Skaar: Where did you go?!

Ant-Man: I'll give you a hint Conan! *whistles loudly*  
The high-pitched sound of Ant-Man's whistle next to Skaar eardrum caused him fall to his knees in sheen pain, he attempted to pick the invading pest from his ear, however when he attempted to even reach for his ear, he felt something crawling on his skin; at fist first he thought it was his enemy making an escape, but when looked down to his attack, he only saw millions of prehistoric ants swarming over his body.

Ant-Man: they don't call me Ant-Man for nothing and I'm guessing these Jurassic ants can put on some serious hurt, like so!

With that, the Avenger mentally commanded his new insect legion to bite down on Skaar's skin. While he was racked with pain; Eric quickly climbed out of his ear and grew back to his giant form and pinned Skaar under his foot.

Ant-Man: Now you listen to me junior, either you join our  
team or you and I are gonna keep at this until this whole jungle is nothing more than a pile of wood chippings *thinks to  
himself* oh god I hope he believes this buff because there's no way in hell I can take him in a real fight!

Skaar: ...fine...

Ant-Man: *thinks to himself* Oh thank you god! *lets Skaar go and shrinks back down to normal height*

Skaar: *get's back up* so what's this...team do exactly?

Ant-Man: *smirks* we smash the bad guys

Firestar: *get's back up* Ugh, what happened?

Ant-Man: I beat the Hulk's son, that's what happened!

Skaar: *glares at Ant-Man* I let you win...

Firestar: Save it for later you two, right now we've a Hulk to stop

New York, present time...

Captain America sighed in relief at the sight of reinforcements, especially at the sight of Skaar among the ranks. He looked at Panther and Songbird, who where just moments ago beaten down by the sheer power of Nuul; where now quickly recovering from the attack and rallying to their leader.

Captain America: Are you all right?

Black Panther: A broken rib or two, but I have suffered far worse

Songbird: I put a barrier around myself at the second before I took that hit, so just a few cuts and bruises for me

Captain America: *to Firestar* I'm glad you could make it in time and get Skaar as well

Firestar: You can thank Ant-Man for that; he's the one who convinced junior to join the team

Ant-Man: Hey guys, I think we have more pressing matters at hand like the big red wrecking machine coming at us!  
Like Eric had said, Nuul charged at the Avengers at full speed with his fists at the ready to pound the team into dust.

Skaar: stand aside humans, I need something to smash!

Captain America: Skaar wait!

Before Steve could stop the newest Avenger, Skaar rushed toward Nuul. The two gamma powered monster's fists collided; causing a shockwave throughout the area. Nuul threw a punch and smacked Skaar across the face, but the Hulk's son retaliated with punch to the stomach that sent the worthy into another building. The barbarian drew his sword and continued his attack; however when he swung his blade at his opponent, the red behemoth caught his blade with both his hands and broke it in two. Enraged at the sight of his weapon destroyed, Skaar attempted to pummel Nuul, but the breaker of worlds caught both of his hands and kicked him directly in the chest sending him flying backwards into another building. Meanwhile the rest of the Avengers could only look on at the battle.

Firestar: If they keep this up there going to bring the whole city down!

Ant-Man: If you want to break them, be my guest because I'm not stepping into all that

Captain America: Firestar's right we need to spilt Skaar away from Nuul, and then we can focus all our firepower on him

Songbird: How do we do that?

Captain America: Songbird, you and Firestar concentrate you fire on Nuul

Firestar: Got it! *fly's into the air with Sonbird*

Captain America: T'challa, can you still fight?

Black Panther: I can work through the pain

Captain America: Then you and Ant-Man will help me directly attack Nuul while Firestar and Songbird are attacking him from above

Ant-Man: *grows to his giant form* let's do this!

Captain America: *raises shield* Avengers Assemble!

The team began their assault on the breaker of worlds. Firestar and Songbird flew high into the air and began their aerial bombardment on the beast, pinning him down with their combined power.

Songbird: this is way too easy, I don't like it

Firestar: What do you mean?

Songbird: When I was with the Thunderbolts, we battled the Juggernaut who was possessed by another one of the Worthy; we threw everything we had at him and he still stood and Nuul beat down took down the Red Hulk and the entire Avengers by himself the last time he was here with little effort

Firestar: I agree, but right now I think we should concentrate on the job athand

Songbird: Right, Pour it on him!

While the two heroines reined their power down unto the beast, the rest of the team began their part of the attack. Steve hurled his shield into the monsters face while Black Panther hurled knives into Nuul's chest; Ant-Man brought his now massive fist down unto the team's enemy.

Ant-Man: HA! Suck it!

However, Eric's victory was short lived when Nuul grabbed his hand and easily tossed him into Songbird and Firestar's direction, knocking them out of the sky. He then proceeded to grab to snatch up Panther by the torso and slammed the king of Wakanda into ground before attempting to do the same Captain America, but the sentinel of liberty managed to leap back and out of the Worthy's reach. At the same time, Skaar was picking himself up from the hit he took from Nuul.

Skarr: *Climb's out of the wreckage* He's gonna pay for that...

Captain America: *Shout's to Skaar* Skaar, I need your help!

Skaar: You're not getting it, he's mine!  
Once again the gamma powered barbarian rushed toward the possessed red hulk, but when he tried to throw even a single punch, Nuul caught his fist and slammed him face first into the ground and repeatedly pummeled in face by Nuul's mighty fists.

Nuul: No matter what you fools throw at me, in the end it is all  
pointless!

He raised his fist to bring down on the son of his former host, then suddenly the wind kicked up and the clouds above darkened. The Avengers as well as Nuul looked at the event in total shock.

Black Panther: *trying to pick himself off the ground* It can't be...

Ant-Man: *Back to normal height* No way...

Nuul: NO! Not you! The Serpent Slew you! *picks up and

Skaar and tosses him aside* you cannot be alive Odinson!

Captain America: *whispers* Thor?

The Worthy's response came in the form of a golden hammer that came through the clouds at an alarming speed and collided with his chest with a force so powerful it sent flying backwards at least thirty feet. Then a strong voiced boomed in the skies above.

?: To me Stormbreaker!

The hammer reacted to the voices command and soared back up into the sky to be caught by the hand of a strange figure that seemingly floated down from the heavens above. The unknown hero descended down to the ground and held out his hand to Skaar.

?: Rise my brother in arms

Skaar took the stranger's outstretched hand and was pulled back to his feet; Steve carefully approached the newcomer from behind, the warrior wore a suit of armor similar to Thor's classic attire, but when he turned around to face Cap, the leader of Avenger's was shocked to see the newcomer's face was that of a horse, it was then that Steve knew who this hero was.

Captain America: You're Beta Ray Bill; Thor spoke of you

Beta Ray Bill: Aye and you are Captain America, My oath-brother told me tales of you as well, but now is not the time for introductions there is a battle to be won!

Captain America: Agreed *looks over Songbird and Firestar who come up to them* How are you guys feeling?

Songbird: Firestar and I can still fight, but Ant-Man's arm is broken and Panther's in real bad shape

Captain America: Then we need to finish this now

Beta Ray Bill: I may have something that may be useful *speaks into his wrist communicator* Skuttlebutt, prepare to fire all weapons unto the target

Skuttlebutt: *over communicator* yes sir

Beta Ray Bill: my ship has the firepower to bring down this monster once and for all

Captain America: I can't let you do that, that's one of our teammates he's been taken over by-

Beta Ray Bill: I am aware of the entity in question and rest assured no harm will come to him

Firestar: Speaking of which here he comes again!

The remaining heroes saw the breaker of worlds charge at them again at full force.

Beta Ray Bill: Now Skuttlebutt!

Out of the sky two beams of blue energy fired down on Nuul, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Beta Ray Bill: The beams are strong, but I need more power to subdue him!

Songbird: got it! Let's go Firestar!

Firestar: Right behind you!

The two female Avengers launched another barrage of their power at their enemy adding onto the onslaught, Beta Ray join in by firing a blast of lighting from his hammer, but still it seemed Nuul still had strength to fight.

Captain America: We need to keep Nuul from moving! Skaar can you knock him off balance?

Skaar: I can do better than that; I can keep him from even getting back up! *to Firestar, Songbird and Beta Ray Bill* you three might want to get air-born

The three other heroes took to the skies while counting there attack on their target. Skaar slammed his fists on the ground, making a shockwave that knocked the worthy off his feet and with the force of the blast, it kept him down.

Nuul: No! This can't be! I can't fail! No!

Songbird: keep going we've almost got him!

Beta Ray Bill: We need just a bit more power

Ironman: *flies in* Maybe I can help with that

Firestar: Tony!

The Avengers were surprised to see Tony fly into the fray of the battle, but still glad to see him back on his feet. Without saying another word, the armored avenger fired his repulsor rays and uni-beam at once to help bring down Nuul once and for all.

Nuul: Masters, I've failed you!

With one final outcry, Nuul collapsed and the team ceased the attack. The breaker of worlds was left lying still in a carter as the heroes gathered around their fallen enemy. Captain America jumped into the hole and approached the defeated hulk.

Captain America: I want answers Nuul, how did you return and why are you in this hulk's body?

Nuul: *chuckles darkly* ...I given this mission by my new masters to destroy you before you could become a threat to their plans

Captain America: But the Serpent is gone, who could you serve now?

Nuul: you'll know, in due time...

Right after saying those words, Nuul began to fade away as the Red Hulk began to morph back into its human form reveling himself to the rest of the team

Firestar: is that...?

Songbird: General Ross? But isn't he dead?

Ironman: you kidding me, Ross is the Red Hulk? *to captain America* you and I are going to have a serious talk about this Steve

Captain America: I'm aware of that Tony, but right now let's get our wounded to get some medical attention and then begin clean up around this area *to Beta Ray Bill* I suppose you'll be leaving now?

Beta Ray Bill: No, I came here not just to aid you in this battle, but also pledge my services to the Avengers. I was unable to come to the aid of my oath-brother in his time of need, so it is my hope that I can honor his memory by fighting alongside the mortals that he called his friends

Captain America: Then I'm happy to welcome you to the team *to Skaar* and you Skaar, we could use you around here

Skaar...If I stay here, then I don't want to be compared to my father even once or I'm gone and I'm taking your head with me

Captain America: Done, welcome to the team Skaar

Firestar: Yes! Go Team!

Meanwhile, at an unknown location...

Count Nefaria: *shuts off a view screen* And that my friends is what we'll be facing

Ezekiel Stane: Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the idea that Nuul was going to destroy the Avengers?

Mr. Sinister: No, the plan was to use Nuul to gauge the strength of the Avengers

Morgan Le Fay: And I say we've learned quite a bit

Armin Zola: Although the arrival of the Hulk's child and Thor's friend was a bit unexpected

Dracula: True, but it's nothing that can't be handled

Tyrannous: And when we unleash our plan-

Wizard: You mean the All-Masters plan

Count Nefaria: We'll become the gods of a new earth!

Next Issue: Tony confronts Steve about the secrets he's been hiding from the rest of the group and to make matters worse; Betty Ross A.K.A The Red She-Hulk has bone to pick with Cap as well! Meanwhile the two newest Avengers Skaar and Beta Ray Bill try to adjust to their new roles and lives, but it's going to be a little difficult when the two face off with the Wrecking Crew!

Astonishing Avengers, Issue 4


	4. Chapter 4

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #4 By:Stephen Kelley Back at Avengers Tower Captain America was reviewing what went down with Null when Iron Man walked in, "so tell me Steve what other secrets are you hiding from everyone, I get a call to repair Jim Hammond and find out that Bucky's alive and that on top of it he's leading the secret avengers" "if you really want to get technical and go there Tony, Bucky's the field leader fury is the one supervising the team and reporting their actions to me" "oh so now your "secret avengers"are being "supervised" by Nicholas J Fury international super spy and all around snake in the grass". *Iron man mockingly claps "Bravo Steve doing just what fury taught you, keeping a whole bunch of secrets that could potentially endanger everyone and backstab those that trust you the most", "betrayal Tony, you want to speak to me of BETRAYAL, of BACKSTABBING, okay Mr. stark why don't I go down a laundry list of of things you've done that have severely alienated those around you let's start with the simplest the fact that you became an alcoholic destroyed your life and got so bad that you actually had to have Rhodey take your place for a while, you eventually quit you do good for a couple of years and then the serpent attacks, and you decide to become an alcoholic again and I'm not just talking about regular alcoholic Tony I mean drunker than a skunk you couldn't even think straight bumping into walls drunk, and let's not forget about how you chose to side with Maria Hill during the Civil War proving how much of a spineless coward you really are by becoming the "director"of shield forcing heroes AND villains to either register, be imprison, or in the case of Bill Foster and such eliminated". "Hey it wasn't my fault that" "shut up Tony I have the floor and you WILL listen, Thor was gone and you decided to make some reverse engineered garbage clone that you thought you could control but here's the problem Tony, you couldn't control the clone it rebelled against you it started killing people left and right one of its first victims happened to be Bill Foster it wasn't until Herc actually stopped the thing that you realized how badly you messed up". "And to make matters worse Tony you manipulate Spider-man into being your little puppet putting his loved ones in danger and then, and this is the real kicker Tony, Nova comes back after he allegedly saved the galaxy from Annihilus and what did you do to welcome him back to Earth after visiting his family who he probably hadn't seen in ages, you show up with Reed Richards and a half a dozen shield agents effectively scaring his family and then try to force him to register". "Well he's a" "Dammit Tony stop making excuses and trying to justify your BS actions, the man saved the entire galaxy and all you can offer him is hey register or you're going to jail or you can leave the planet forever so you compare me to fury Tony, I think you need to take a good long look in the mirror cause you got more innocent blood on your hands than I do, matter of fact i'll go even further, you have more blood on your hands than I EVER have or will". "I never claimed to be perfect Tony and maybe yeah I keep secrets like fury the difference between me and Fury is that I at least still try to be a good person I want people to look at me for the hero that I am not like Fury or I'm a man of secrets and could at any moment betray people for the greater good that's not me Tony, and never will be me you can go ahead and make your little judgmental statements you can try to "blast me" but unlike you Tony I get up and I look in the mirror in the morning and I'm able to live with myself and the decisions that I've made can you honestly stand here and look in the eyes and say the same". "Honestly Steve I'm learning to look in the mirror little more each day, and while I understand that you have your secrets I still can't respect the fact that you kept Ross being Red Hulk from all of us and I have to ask who did you do that for, was it for Bruce, was it for Betty, wasn't for the man's reputation, his honor" "it was a secret that Bruce wanted And also Betty to a certain extent" "speaking of Ms. Ross she is on the line for you sir" Jarvis chimed in, "great first I'm getting interrogated by you Tony now I get to deal with Betty"Steve said pinching his nose and letting out an exasperated sigh. The video monitor flickered to life and on the screen was Betty Ross also known as the Red She- Hulk who by the looks of it was very unhappy, "so "Cap" I just saw on the news that apparently the world now knows that my father is not only red Hulk but that he's alive as well would you like to explain it to me or should I come to Avengers Tower and make this a much more "intimate"conversation". "one I realize Betty you have an ax to grind with me but your father was possessed by Nuul and two even if we managed to avoid the media coverage there were kids with their flip out cellular phones recording it, who possibly put it on that video sharing site i think they called it YouTube or even that weird social media site where you post all kinds of different things Tony uses it for a lot of stuff", "Facebook Steve the site is called Facebook" "not helping Tony" *Iron Man rolls his eyes. "I don't care what the reason is or why, I may hate my father for what he did to me for what he's done to Bruce, but what I do know is that now a media firestorm is gonna happen because of YOU and the avengers not reacting fast enough however lucky for you i'm not to REALLY show you how badly you messed up" Betty said her eyes narrowing, cap didn't have to imagine the other half of her fists shaking with anger. After the video conference was over Hawkeye walked into the room a look at concern on his face, "Steve I really hate to do this to you and Tony, but I just got this letter"Clint holds up the letter for Steve and Tony to see, "and well I can't tell you the details but I'd like to request a leave of absence to take care of it, it's kinda personal"Hawkeye said with a sense of urgency but regret as well. "You don't need to ask for permission clint" cap said putting a hand on his shoulder "we'll still be here when you get back" "Thanks Cap" Hawkeye said with a reassuring smile as he left to go pack, meanwhile elsewhere in the tower Melissa Gold also known as Songbird was in the front lobby going over the footage of the battle with Nuul as well, something about it bothered her she couldn't place her finger on it but her gut told her that there was more on the surface than what it appeared, though she knew Cap probably already knew this as did Tony "trying to analyze the footage just like Steve and Tony are"Falcon said coming from behind her holding two cups of coffee, Melissa stared at Sam her eyes narrowing "are you actually offering me a cup of coffee as a gesture of goodwill, I thought this morning I didn't DESERVE to be on this team"Songbird spat at Falcon, "look, I ain't gonna deny you got a record, but Steve chose you for a reason and well my reaction was a bit brash, and I trust Steve's decision even if every fiber of my being doesn't. "What I'm saying Songbird is you only get one shot"Falcon said holding up one finger "to prove to me that you deserve to be on this team, we ain't the Thunderbolts you bring your A game or you go home know what I'm saying, look I don't mean to be hard on you I know you're trying to reform I know you're trying to prove to people that your a hero but I'd rather grill you and give you a tough time as I know to bring out the best in you but other than that I got no beef with you that cool with you"Falcon said holding his fist out "no, I'm not COOL with that I don't need to prove myself to you or anyone else on this team other than Iron Man and Cap" Falcon looked away from her with a sense of dejection "okay, I can respect that I don't like it but i'll respect it" "but at the very least falcon can I trust you to have my back as I would yours" "real talk, yeah I got you an you got me, see that's the beautiful part of the avengers we got so many members that never got along, hell Hercules and Namor ran on the same team and those two dudes nearly tore each other apart but when push came to shove, they put aside any of their personal beliefs and they went and did their thing so as far as I'm concerned you and I can do the same"falcon said smirking as he and Songbird both analyzed the footage while sipping on their coffees. To be continued 


	5. Chapter 5

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #5 By: Stephen Kelley Meanwhile in the fabled city of Asgardia Beta Ray Bill had come to pay his respects to his fallen comrades and "oath brother", "I wish I could sit here and apologize to you, I was not there when you needed me most when Asgard needed me most"Bill said hanging his head in partial shame in front of the giant statue of Thor. "It was not your fault Bill"a voice said from behind Beta Ray, when Bill turned around he came face-to-face with Hogun, Fandrel, and Volstagg better known as the warriors three "aye" Volstagg said with a heavy heart "twas not thy fault, for the son of Asgard gave it his all not just to defend the realm, but to defend the all of the nine worlds from the serpents tyrannical grasp" Hogun stated clenching his fist in front of his face as if he were crushing something. Fandrel placed a reassuring hand on Bill's shoulder "do not think of him as being gone Bill, for Thor is alive and well in all of our hearts and his influence is far reaching many in the nine realms and beyond mourned his passing after the serpents fall, why the Lady Sif has joined the mid-guardian group known as the "New Avengers Task Force"and Valkyrie she is currently on a journey throughout the nine realms to prove to not only the all mothers but to herself that she can handle the responsibility of defending mighty Asgardia and all the nine realms" Fandrel said in his usual boasting way but Bill could see through it, the warriors three were the closest to Thor as much as Sif and possibly Valkyrie, but Bill like everyone else in Asgardia felt that he didn't just lose a comrade in arms but someone akin to a brother. As Bill and the warriors three paid their respects to the son of Odin's statue as well as his brother balder and many others who had fallen in the battle against the serpent when he got an alert on his avengers communicator. "speak friend Jarvis, what vexing matter requires my attention"Bill said listening intently "well Sir, it appears the wrecking crew are causing a disturbance in Wyoming, regretfully all the other avengers are tied up at the moment except for Skaar" "I see"Bill said considering a moment "see if you can hail him, I shall fly in that direction and hopefully he will assist me"Bill said whirling storm breaker as he reared back his arm, then with the mighty thrust Bill shot forward into the sky toward Wyoming. Elsewhere in the world Skaar had saved a man from dehydration, he started to see maybe why his father associated himself with these "Avengers"but in truth Skaar found it a waste for someone of his "skills", "buh no wonder my father left, I have to save these pathetic humans from situations there are more than perfectly capable of saving themselves from" Skaar grunted "if they die it is because "evolution"decided they do"then his Avengers communicator went off, "what do you want" Skaar growled at Jarvis "Beta Ray Bill requires your help in Wyoming with the wrecking crew" "pah so now the horse faced alien needs my help, he's got all the same powers as Thor why would you need my help" Skaar partly snapped "I thought I made it perfectly clear, I am not pulling the majority of the weight for this "team"or were none of the other avengers listening" Skaar snorted in disgust, "fine, but this is the only time I'm helping him next time he's on his own" Skaar scuffed as he started leaping and bounding toward Wyoming. When both Avengers met up Bill actually had a look of shock on his face "it appears son of Hulk that you are actually learning what it means to be a "team player"" "keep it up horse face and you'll be fighting them alone, then I will take all five of your heads" Skaar scuffed without even looking at Bill, "nay, you're more than welcome to try though"Bill shot back as they confronted the wrecking crew. "Well well look at what we got here Hulk Junior and Thor's little pony"Wrecker said with extreme confidence in his voice, "yeah, you both may be tied to two former Avengers, but neither one of you are as good as them"bulldozer said "and to that vile villain, I say NAY" Bill shouted as he momentarily twirled and then flung storm breaker right at bulldozers face sending the villain flying back 11 feet. "So you want to fight huh" thunder ball said "well you got one now, and when we're done you gonna wish you never considered being Avengers". "That so" Skaar said cracking his knuckles "normally I would draw my sword at this point but just to give myself an extra challenge, I'm going to break all four of you WITH MY BARE HANDS" skaar roared before slamming his fist into thunder balls face before getting rammed from behind by bulldozer, while Bill clashed with Wrecker and Piledriver. *Cuts back to Avengers Tower "so you and justice huh" Eric O'Grady said not realizing how insensitive his comment towards Firestar was, "yes Eric we were engaged and at one point yes we had wanted a child which by the way couldn't happen because of my powers"Angelica scuffed "but I imagine YOU wouldn't care seeing as you're a father oh wait you're not, because the woman who is your baby mama left you"though he managed to give the impression that he blow it off those words stung Eric the most, he often wondered what happened to Veronica and the child that he had created with her though Eric thoughts that he would've been a bad father still lingered in his mind, Eric looked at the Avengers as a chance to start over but Eric also knew he couldn't trust himself so he acted out and yet still despite acting out people were willing to give him chance after chance to mend his ways "I need some serious help"Eric thought to himself. Meanwhile in Tony's research lab Iron Man was studying a strange frequency that had been popping up for the last half hour, "what is with this signal, it doesn't match any other frequencies in any database"Tony said frustrated "it's like this frequency doesn't exist like it's from another time or dimension" "more than likely if you can't find it Tony it has to be"Steve said walking into the lab. "I don't know whether the take that as a compliment or an insult" Tony said " then take it is neither" Steve said staring at the screen, something about the frequency caught caps eye as well then it dawned on him "Tony this is in a radio frequency, this is a distress beacon listen to it, Iron Man listen to it and then it clicked in Tony's head "how could I have missed that, not a radio frequency it's a distress beacon done in a hybrid of Morris code and ultrasonic sound"I am a quickly went to work "deciphering" the beacon though the voice was very gargled it was clearly a message for help. To be continued 


	6. Chapter 6

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #6 By:Stephen Kelley Meanwhile back in Wyoming bill and skaar were having a rough time with the wrecking crew, "I'll give you two credit" wrecker said breathing a little heavier "you're managing to hold your own but you're still not good enough"he said raising his enchanted crowbar. But then bulldozer came toppling into him after being thrown by skaar, "I grow tired of this" skaar said unsheathed his sword "I'll take your heads and be done with it but know this before I do, I wasn't even using my full strength" skaar said pointing his sword at wrecker before hitting the leader of the super villain troupe with a charging slash that looked straight out of a barbarian movie. "What are you doing"stated flatly "villains they may be but death is not yours to give them" "they are weak, if they cannot kill you or I then they deserve to be killed" skaar said as he almost severed piledriver's right arm had Bill not stepped in and deflected the slash "and I say nay to that decision" "get out of my way before you join them" skaar said getting in Bill's face both men intensely staring at each other, then both their communicators went off "skaar, Bill" caps voice echoed "we need you now, Tony and I just deciphered a distress beacon and well as you can imagine we might be having some company VERY bad company, Bill you'll get there faster then we can in the Quinn-jet will swing on by and pick up skaar if you want to scout ahead, but do not engage let me repeat that order if they fire on you do not engage retreat back to a safe distance understood" cap said in his usual stern tone, "aye captain, your order is as you say here on Earth "Crystal clear"" Bill said staring at skaar and pointing Stonebraker at him "this is not over, when the opportunity arises you and I will have words"Bill said his eyes narrowing angrily "and I'll look forward to not listening to whatever you have to say and crushing that beady little head of yours" skaar shot back bits of saliva hitting Bill in the face. Back at Stark tower all of the avengers gathered in the Quinn-jet and traced the signal pattern mapping out a GPS, however the avengers didn't get the chance to take off as a giant oval-esque ship landed right in the center of Manhattan over Central Park along with smaller ships, the beacons signal pattern started beeping loudly in the Quinn-jet. "Well looks like we don't need to search for it, it came to us"Ironman said "I'll know whether to look at that as a good thing or a bad thing" "I vote it's a bad thing Tony"Steve said with a been a concern in his voice "well duh, I mean giant F'N alien warships centered over Central Park along with smaller ships, no sir that doesn't spell alien invasion at all "Antman said sarcastically before taking an elbow to the chest from Songbird "shut up Eric, so what's the plan" "the plan would be to infiltrate, it appears whoever is controlling the ships left no sentrys, and scuttle-bug has stated that there's no heat signatures but all the same be on your guard"Bill crackled over the communicators "well people you heard the man let's board the ships and find out what's going on" cap said. Meanwhile walking through Times Square Chris Powell noticed the ships that had landed "oh hell that ain't good"he said finding a safe place to change, Chris then focused his mental thoughts into becoming darkhawk and in almost an instant, the alien armor had formed around him when he heard on the radio about seeing the avengers Quinn-jet raced towards the ships as well as beta Ray Bill "dammit I gotta warn them, those ships are bad news". DarkHawk said as the collapsible wings under his arms folded outwards propelling him up into the air as he swung around and headed for Central Park. Meanwhile inside the mothership the avengers split off into different teams, Antman and beta Ray Bill went one way, Ironman, falcon, and cap went another, skaar went his own way and firestar, Songbird, and Black Panther went into another corrider, "I do not like this"Black Panther said his eyes narrowing "we are too far out in the open, the enemy has a strategic advantage over us" "yeah well"Songbird said also feeling uneasy "not much we can really do about it" "your observation of the obvious is most compelling Songbird" t'challa said with dry sarcasm, "so far nothing is done this court or and if it wants to live, it will stay out of my way" skaar said over the communicators "you ever get the feeling that he'd just rather kill everyone and everything"Antman said with bitter sarcasm "aye Eric O'Grady he tried to kill the wrecking crew, and then dared to threaten me when I stood in his way" "wwhhoo, I'll give you credit Mr. Ed you got balls"Bill looked him unamused "what, it was a compliment" "so making a juvenile horse joke is a complement" "no that's just me complementing you but also insulting at the same time" "and storm breakers hilt will complement your smashed in face or anyone else's should I hear any more "horse" jokes today"Bill said agitated "all right all right calm down, so what exactly does cap hope will find"O'Grady said looking all around "I do not know but let us hope it is not something that we will have to fight but should it come to that, then we must be alert and ready". cap, falcon, and Ironman walked through a series a core doors they couldn't make sense of most of what was on the ship but when they came to a large circular obelisk like room Tony immediately figured out which room they were in "guys somehow through the miracle of not knowing where the hell we are, I do believe we ended up in the engine room" cap surveyed the room "agreed this doesn't look like all the other chambers that we passed through "yeah"falcon chimed in "the other ones look like a barracks, the med unit, and look like an office space in that one but this this is definitely an engine room even if it is alien"and a centerpiece of the engine room was a glowing egg shaped spiral column. At the same time Bill and O'Grady came to a chamber that had near zero gravity "okay, okay I realize that this is what astronauts trained for but I'm not a firkin astronaut"O'Grady said toppling head over heels in the near zero-g environment "do not fight the antigravity you will only make it worse, flow through it like water pretend you're swimming in one of your oceans"Bill suggested showing little to almost no trouble moving through the environment "okay pretend I'm writing waves that aren't really waves, right" Eric said still fumbling around but slowly finding his "center", by mere accident Eric shifted upwards in the room and what caught his eye made him holler for Bill "yo Bill, I think you need to see this kinda messed up" Bill shifted over to where Eric was and his face contorted in horror "by all of the nine realms and beyond"his eyes widened as the scene before him was horrifying a young woman in her mid-to late 20s was in a machine that clearly look like it was draining the life out of her. Bill looked around for consult when he found one he looked at the language and his expression of horror became one of triumph "scuttle bug"Bill commanded his personal ship "I'm placing a hacking unit see if you can decipher and break the code" "will do Sir"scuttle bugs automated voice said cheerfully as he began to decode the release mechanism, on the other side Ironman it finally figured out how to decode the egg shaped machine in the engine room so they could see the power source but neither Ironman, falcon, or even cap was prepared for the scene before them and the expressions on their faces was one that they never expected to have at the person in front of them, the power source for the alien mothership "vision" cap said his voice choking off from shock "help...me..." vision said weakly his robotic eyes staring at them with a near vacant look. To be continued in issue seven 


	7. Chapter 7

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #7 By:Stephen Kelley At the same time Skuttlebutt finished decoding the release mechanism and the young woman despite being very weak managed to push Bill and Eric back against the wall, "lady, we're not your enemies we're your friends, and plus your crushing my stomach"O'Grady said not looking well "I think those chili cheese fries are about to come back up" "if you even think of"next thing Eric and Bill knew the girl had blacked out and the ship felt like it was falling. Everyone on the ship was either falling backwards, to the side or flipping to the top part of their corridor, "AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH" Eric howled till he vomited in midair splashing both himself and Bill in the face "oh god, make it stop please make it AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH" "when we are done falling, IF we survive the fall storm breaker would like to have a few words with you Eric O'Grady"Bill said chili cheese fries vomit flying to and fro from his face. Meanwhile Tony and Sam managed to grab the upper and lower halfs of visions body while cap nimbly maneuvered to the door they came from "this whole ships going down, we have to get vision out of here" "I don't know cap, I think maybe we just hit some turbulence"Ironman said sarcastically "save the smartass jokes for another time Tony"Steve said annoyed "can everybody make it out of here"Steve said hailing the rest of the team "aye captain myself and Antman found a young lady, we believe she was holding this entire ship up" "yo, did Bill just say what I THINK he just said"falcon said trying to register what beta Ray Bill had just said over the comm. "if there are any other people like this on the ship,we gotta try to get them out if we can" cap stated continuing to run, jump, and leap through the complex, in another corridor fire star, Songbird, and Black Panther were making their way through back to the center where they could all exit to the Quinn jet "it would appear that Bill and Eric found a young mutant "what makes you think she's a mutant"fire star said raising an eyebrow, Black Panther stared at her as he was leaping and clawing his way to stable ground "the answer is quite obvious, a ship of this size and magnitude would require great anti-gravitational force"Black Panther stated "so naturally you would need a mutant of great significant power whose ability dealt with gravitational forces, in other words whoever this young woman is she is as powerful as magneto at least in theory" "that's, a very scary notion"Songbird said "yeah no kidding"fire star said trembling a bit at the thought "we already have graviton, and he's a handful as it is" "agreed, but I sincerely doubt that she would be an enemy at least not for a while"Black Panther stated. Then the team heard smashing and crashing and thought they had hit the ground, but then they all realized what it was or rather who "skaar, stop smashing your way through the ship" cap ordered "we don't need any more unnecessary debris when the ship crashes into the" BOOMPPPPHHHHH suddenly the sound of metal buckling under pressure and gears grinding brought the ship to a halt. "Everyone all right" cap said dusting himself off and checking if anything was broken, "my pride, my head, and especially my stomach"O'Grady said curling his arms around his stomach "oh suck it up you pansy"Melissa spat at Eric "screw you"he fired back "enough you two" cap barked at Melissa and Eric "I see you guys are still alive"everyone turned and saw darkhawk making his way through the rubble towards them, "what you doing here darkhawk" cap said inquisitively arching an eyebrow "well I was here to warn y'all about the ships, but then you guys decided to come in here probably picked a fight with some aliens and then started wrecking stuff am I right" "no "iron bird" you're wrong" skaar said making his way toward darkhawk getting in his face "man if you don't get out of my face" "you'll do what" "break my foot off into your big green sword and shield barbarian ass that's what I'm gonna do"dark Hawk said pushing chest to chest with skaar "you think because you're the son of the hulk I'm going to back down from you, I'm more afraid of your daddy than I am you" "Okay, okay break it up you two" Ironman said wedging his armored hands between dark hawk and skaar before the son of the Hulk punched him in the face knocking him into a pile of debris "stay out of this stark" skaar growled then a high-pitched sonic scream rang out and next thing dark Hawk and skaar knew they were in bright pink sound constructs of balls and chains and both fell flat on their butts hands and feet bounded, "now are you boys gonna play nice, or do I REALLY have to scream"Songbird threatened "did anyone get that license plate number"Ironman joked, stumbling dizzily toward Songbird. "That was not very nice"Tony said finally regaining his composure "you got in my" skaar was cut off by storm breaker as the hammer flew and struck him straight in the jaw before flying back to Bill's hand, skaar smiled "enjoy that cheap shot, because when I'm not bounded it will be the only one that you get" "nay brute I will give more than one hit and I will not just aim to silence that insolent tongue of yours"Bill said his eyes narrowing angrily "everyone get control of yourselves"Steve snapped and the room went silent. "We need to get this young lady and vision back to avengers tower" cap stated "I do not believe that would be a logical decision Steve Rogers"a voice commanded "is that so"cap said turning to face a techno-organic woman and her minions "yes, in fact you and the other avengers are all going to die and then we will destroy your world, it is the most logical choice as your world is become too corrupt to be allowed to live" "well sorry to disappoint you, but you certainly aren't the first to make that statement and you probably won't be the last" cap said flinging his shield at her and to his surprise she plucked it out of the air like it was nothing, "such primitive bravado, it appears I'm going to have to learn you captain" she said flinging the shield back at Steve with enough force to send him flying 13 feet and cracking a few of his ribs while everyone stared stunned "today is the day Earth designation 616 dies" the techno-organic woman stated coldly. To be continued in issue eight 


	8. Chapter 8

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #8 By:Stephen Kelley "Avengers, take her down"Ironman ordered as the team formed a perimeter, "I'm not an avenger, but if you need me to do something just say so"dark Hawk said as him and falcon circled around the techno-organic woman woman's minions firing energy blasts and "hard light feathers " "you think you can take me or my underlings down, we know all of your strengths and all of your weaknesses"she stated as falcon and dark Hawk notice they weren't making so much as a scratch or a dent on the henchmen. "That ain't good"Sam said his voice shaky "but that's impossible"dark Hawk said shocked "I read this schematics, saw the blueprints, I should be making a dent in these guys" "razor and talon warned me of your "possible interference"Christopher Powell, once I'm done disposing of the avengers and lay waste to this world I will take you and offer you as a "gift"to the fraternity of raptors" the woman said "sorry lady but in case you forgot we're the avengers we fight as one, we'll die as one"Tony said trying to act tough. "Oh please Ironman, save the bravado for someone who can buy into it I can tell just from your pulmonary scans that you are afraid you realize this is a battle you cannot win, surrender now and I will make your deaths painless"she said reasonably, just then she was caught offguard by caps shield as it bounced off her face, she saw the black oily blood that seeped from her lip and for the first time since the avengers encountered her her face contorted in extreme anger, "you insolent little pustuleus maggot infested meatbag" she shrieked "I am perfection, how dare you tarnish me" "lady if where you come from that's perfection i'll pass"Steve said limping back to the group his right arm curled around his ribs. "You are flawed, all the worlds in the multi-verse are flawed, I will correct them all even if I have to disrupt the entire balance of the multi-verse itself"she said manically almost like she was under a hypnotists trance. "I don't know about the other universes, or the other mes" Steve said standing up as straight as he could "but the one thing I do know, we'll fight to our last breaths to defend our world and every other world in the multi-verse" cap said holding his shield up ready to attack. "You are no different than the people in 612, they to thought that they could turn us back and now their world is obliterated and their people captured including that girl's father"the woman said pointing at the young lady "she will come back with us" "not a chance"Steve said "avengers"before cap could finish the woman telekinetically grabbed him by the throat and started choking him in midair, "you still don't get it do you, you cannot win the matter what strategy that little brain of yours comes up with it will always result in failure we have conquered galaxies destroyed multiple versions of you and the other avengers and other heroes and villains, we have even destroyed 5 to 6 versions of silver surfer and galactus do you really think that you can stand a chance against us and our armada"the woman said tightening her grip around Steve's throat before finally with what looked like a bemused smile flung him even further than when she through the shield back at him and went to retrieve the girl but got repulsor blasted by Tony, "get her and vision out of here, I'll hold them off" "but Tony we can't" "JUST DO IT" Tony hollered forming a wide berth for them to escape and as everyone got away they could hear the sounds of Tony going down. Back at avengers tower every news channel was panicking as giant metal orbs with laser targets were centered around the globe, many news channels in many different languages were basically telling people that this was "the end of the world" Melissa flipped the TV off throwing the remote at it in blind rage and frustration "dammit Tony"she said as she fell to her knees having an emotional breakdown "we can only hope it was a quick death or they're keeping him and captain america prisoner" t'challa said pacing back and forth like a giant cat in a zoo, "why should we care what happens to them" skaar said coldly "why should we care, WHY SHOULD WE CARE" Angelica said her powers flaring up around her singeing both the carpet and skaars skin "these two men have been with almost every incarnation of the avengers, you would do well to show them both respect dead or otherwise"Bill said pointing storm breaker. "They're not going to kill them"the girl said regaining consciousness "than what do they plan to do with them" Sam said with dread in his voice "things you could never imagine"the girl said looking at dark Hawk "I see Sam is here" "Sam"Chris said confused, the girl that had a look of shock on her face as if she was reliving a horrible flashback "no Sam's dead but yet, head hurts so confused" "normally I'm all about cracking jokes and needing sensitivity training buffer once I'm gonna say something nice"Eric said calmly and gently pushing her back down on the couch "lay down and rest, after what I can PRESUME you've been through sleep would be your best option, by then maybe that hang over of yours will clear and we'll get some answers, by way you got a name" the girl looked at O'Grady "Erika, Erika Lashaar" everyone froze, "I'm sorry did you just say lashaar" firestar said nearly choking "looks like my theory was correct"Black Panther said smiling "she is not only a mutant, but she is apparently the daughter of magneto from another world/dimension". "Then it also stands to prove"Melissa said looking at vision lying on the table "that this vision is not ours but hers" she said pointing at erika. "Visions alive"Erika said her eyes widening then visions top and lower halfs started bucking and shaking and he spoke in a glitchy tone "di...di... diagnostics report...port...port...port verbal malfunction fixed, where am I"vision said his eyes coming to life "scanning, designation Earth 616 avengers tower, hello avengers can you do me a favor"vision said politely "can you activate the manual override so I can begin self repair" "of course vision, tell me where your override switch is" t'challa said assisting the android while Melissa gathered everyone around Erika "I know you need to rest, will you need to tell us where can we find Steve and Tony"Erika then told them what she could remember when she had been abducted from her world, when she was finished she lay back down and rested while Melissa sat Eric, Skaar, Chris, Angelica, Sam, T'Challa, and Bill down to form a plan to rescue Tony and Steve. To be continued in issue nine 


	9. Chapter 9

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #9 By: Stephen Kelley In the interrogation room of the aliens mothership Steve and Tony were undergoing brutal torture, " you can torture me all you like, but I won't fold to someone like you" Steve said the alien Queen just laughed and Steve's face "so did the previous captain America's, you'll be no different from them the same could be said for Mr. stark for we are the kal'thraky"the queen said with the venomous and cocky smirk. Two sentrys were in a hallway conversing with each other while meanwhile unbeknownst to their gaze a small little critter was crawling across the floor. "Please don't let them see me please don't let them see me" "you need to chill Eric"falcon said over the earcom "acting all nervous and twitchy like that and they will see you" "yeah that's easy for you to say you're not the one having to do recon" "and I'm not the one who can shrink to the size of an ant and fit through most then some holes, I would like nothing more than to help you but unfortunately "Antman" they'd blast me out the sky if I try to do any aerial recon"Sam said with annoyance, "cut the radio chatter"Melissa snapped "they could be listening for any COM frequencies and would know that we're coming, maintain radio silence is much as you can unless absolutely necessary" "this is getting dull and boring" "easy big guy, if things go south then you'll have plenty of stuff to cut up, smashup, Maime, cripple" Sam could hear Melissa seething on the other end and both he and skaar stopped talking. Meanwhile inside Eric scurried around when he saw Sentry go through we presumed was a locked door he needed a distraction to slip through unnoticed using his helmet he summoned a small army to "ankle bite"the soldiers distracting them into thinking that there was a pest problem and as the guards eliminated the ants and went through the door they didn't notice a small man running for his life to try not getting caught in or shut out from the door however as was the case with Eric's bad luck the guard he bumped into one of the guards and rise the guard went to turn around and saw him Eric's fighter flight instinct kicked in and he grew to normal size grabbed the guard and remembering how Pym taught him judo throwed the guard into the other one and then he heard a buzzing and immediately Eric thought that they had set off an alarm but when the buzzing stopped it was just a janitorial drone. Eric breathed a sigh of relief "sorry about the mess I left you"Eric jested as the janitorial drone just looked at them then a screeching came out of it along with lots of clanking and lucky for Eric those investments in adult diapers paid off as he had soiled himself because the janitorial drone had turned into a killer death bot "hey look it's wall-e" and to Eric shock the robot actually turned to look giving him time to shrink down and run him between its legs and the robot then started lumbering after him "guys I may need some help I got wall-es mechanical steroid induced cousin chasing me and I also crapped my pants you know just in case one of you happens to smell something" Melissa face palmed while over the comm skaar about died with laughter. "Guys we need to form a"and then Songbird heard a loud crash and alarms blaring and everything, "Sam did he just" "do you even need to ask" "hey you guys said when things went "South" well they did I'm going in and nobody's stopping me" "normally I'm not one for excessive force but I gotta agree with the big guy at the it's about time that we start taken the fight and quit trying to do this covert ops crap I mean what are we the avengers or that secret avengers group that captain america had a while back"dark Hawk said sarcastically, "what the very least can you do me a favor" "and what's that" "can you make it rain on these guys so I can do a "flyby shot"I want to get a good assessment of what their antiair is like" "I think I got something for that"dark Hawk said in a devious tone as his armor produced miniature rocket launchers. Back at Avengers tower vision and singulara looked on in horror as in the distance they could hear the rumblings and explosions and it reminded them of their home earth 612, Earth 612 was a "sister"Earth to 616 on that Earth things were a lot different magneto was never a villain but was a founder of the X school believing in the same message that Charles Xavier did that humans and mutants must be able to coexist also one that world, Felicia Hardy was blind and was in fact the daredevil of that Earth, rather than Gwen Stacy being killed it was Peter Parker and Stacy ended up being the spider woman of that Earth, but the saddest of the mall was Dr. Stephen strange who after watching his wife Clea be killed right in front of him by her uncle dormammu strange snapped and killed him effectively making himself the ruler of the dark dimension and it was mordo who sealed strange in the dark dimension Erica was the third daughter of magneto another big difference vision was a lot different as he was built by the Hank Pym of that Earth and he would in turn create ultron and in the final fight that led to the planet being left nearly barren by the kal'thraky vision lost his love and ended up killing "his son"ultron after he had killed Hank Pym visions "father". Many died in that fight many were left over hero and villain alike and though there are many differences Erica and vision knew one thing, if the kal'thraky weren't stopped here the entire multi-verse would be doomed, "designation, we must help the avengers of this Earth even if it costs us our lives I realize Erica this is not the choice that you desire but it is better that we die in battle fighting for freedom then submitting to being slaves like we were before" "I know that vision it's just, I don't know where dad is on even know if he's alive"Erica said with tears streaming down her face "I don't know what to do, I HATE BEING HELPLESS" Erica roared as she nearly shattered the floor "I know, the time it is taking for my repair unit to get me fully operational again is most unpleasant, I only hope that the avengers can hold out in time"vision said with great concern despite his robotic tone. To be continued in issue 10 


	10. Chapter 10

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #10 By:Stephen Kelley Meanwhile, back near the Kal'thraky mothership the Avengers were doing all they could however luckily for Antman the giant killer robot had been brutally smashed and hacked to pieces by Skaar who looked satisfied, "that was a good fight, well for the robot anyway but ultimately like all things it cannot withstand my power and might just like you avengers or anyone else"he said staring at Antman "yeah yeah whatever you say there Kull the conqueror". "I see now why Beta Ray Bill wants to kill you so badly all your annoying little references grow tiresome with me as well, and you still owe me a head slice for what you did to me in the Savage lands" "I thought you said you let me win" O'Grady said twisting the knife however lucky for him a bunch of foot soldiers threw themselves at Skaar, "have fun big guy I know you can do it I believe in you"O'Grady said sarcastically as he shut the door behind him the last image was Skaar giving him a death stare. While most of the troops on the ship were looking for Eric and fighting Skaar, Eric managed to find what he hoped was the holding cells and in it he saw badly tortured and beaten cap and Tony "I don't mean to be rude but you guys look like s$%^" which got him a dirty look from Tony "hold on guys I'll have you out in a sec", Eric then picked the lock nearly effortlessly and helped Tony get his armor back and Steve his shield "Tony has a way to possibly disable the ship Eric, but we may need your help can you handle this" Cap said putting a hand on Eric's shoulder "yeah I can do it, but why do you need me"? As Eric found out he had to go "inside"the database computer and rewire the computer to self-destruct the ship "am I only useful to you guys when I have to crawl inside crap, do this and grab that etc." "Eric just shut up and keep crossing the wires I think I've almost got it"Tony said till finally the right sequence was put in place, and due to his impatience after the computer announced that it would take 2 minutes for the ship to blow up Eric crossed the wires and it only gave the team 30 seconds to get out "ERIC!" "ooooooopppppppssssss" Eric said as tony roughly snatched him up and gave the command for everybody to retreat. It was a beautiful sight for vision and Erica as they saw the mothership go down in a blaze of glory, "designation shock they actually did it" "there may be hope for Earth 616 yet vision"Erica said smiling warmly but still wondering about her father while meanwhile angry eyes locked on Avengers tower from the wreckage, "way to go hotshot we were gonna learn information about their plans where their captives were but instead you just wanted everything to go boom before we even had time to wipe our noses"Tony shouted angrily pacing back and forth in his armor while he and Eric went back and forth "that's pretty funny coming from the "former"director of shield whose tagline was register or be arrested or killed" "says the womanizing, immoral, sad sacked," "that's enough Tony"Steve snapped and the air went paper-thin with tension, "no it won't be enough I told you that when we were looking for new members Steve he was not to be on this list"Tony said pointing at Eric "but you said it was a package deal him and Melissa or not at all". Melissa then stared at Cap in disbelief "so wait a minute I was on the list but you wanted to attach Eric on or I wouldn't have been able to be put on this team so much for the so-called "honor and integrity"that you're known for I've seen a lot of selfish people but that by far is one the most lowliest moves I've ever seen and from a man of your standard" "does anybody in this room ever stop to think that the people like you or Eric Melissa need or deserve a second chance or maybe that little "push"in the right direction" "oh yeah you really gave Eric a push all right Steve, not only that but you let Clint of all people decide that he should be brought on" "you know what Tony I'm getting sick of your tired little childish vendettas against people just because they scorned you did you ever stop to think about what it's like to be madam masquerade and how much she wants you dead or to be Reed Richards and having to deal with Victor Von Doom of course you can't Tony because you're a selfish rich little snot who had everything handed to you your entire life but the one thing that you couldn't buy Tony was self respect, you already know my background Tony I don't need to tell you it and if I had to go through all of it again I gladly would too bad I can't say the same for you" "guys, guys let's stop with the Jerry Springer stuff and get to the bottom of the matter, we still have ships out there that possibly have captives from other worlds or even vision and Erica's home world so how about we stop playing Rochambeau with each other's personal lives and take that aggression and use it against the Kal'thraky sound good"DarkHawk said trying to play peacemaker and redirecting Steve and Tony's aggression. Tony glared at Chris "and you, you're not even an avenger why are you even here, nobody asked for your help and certainly we don't need to take lessons from some young punk in a piece of high-tech alien armor that he still can't even comprehend y" Tony didn't get to finish his sentence as Chris Powell's armored fist slammed into Tony's face dislocating his jaw "you done trying to Showboat stark, you think you're in control newsflash this is the avengers this is a team, but you know what you're right I'm not an avenger and maybe I don't need to be helping you guys seems like you guys are doing just fine without me after all Tony you seem to know everything, maybe me and all the other guys here can do this without you or maybe not so while you sit here with vision and Erica and pout like a little crybaby we're gonna do actual adult work and try to stop these aliens"dark Hawk said angrily as he then flew off the skylight of the tower "I'm afraid Iron Man I must agree with Christopher"Bill said "thou as become egotistical once more I pity you Stark for unlike my hammer brother Thor I will not soil my dignity to stand for this"Bill said whirling storm breaker and flying off behind dark Hawk. "Thank God we're breaking up" Skaar said relieved "not that it really mattered you would have been able to keep me prisoner anyhow"he said leaping off the tower Melissa shot Cap an angry glare "I can't believe you would selfishly deny me a spot on the avengers unless Eric came along, you know you and stark deserve each other your both egotistical and you love belittling those who have any actual dignity or integrity, don't try to contact me and don't try to find me as far as I'm concerned"Melissa said snapping her ID card in half and throwing it in caps face "I was never really part of this team"she snorted as she flew off. "I suppose you'll be next"Steve said looking at Black Panther" "No, I will stay with you but let them go" t'challa said "they will need time to process their mistake, I only hope that their rash decision will not cause us to fail" "not really that rash"Sam said with a hint of anger in his voice "Melissa has every right to be angry and while I didn't much care for her being on the team I don't like the revelation that you put a package deal on her and Antman like that that's messed up Steve, but despite that I'm with you to the end" "as angry as I am over these events I'm staying too" Firestar said but her gaze caught more at Tony then Steve, "despite Eric being a screw up Tony your the one who actually led to all these people being gone now, is being rich and using your tower to fund the avengers not enough you have to wrestle control from Cap you have to put on some big boy pants that you really don't have, Tony I wouldn't follow you if you made a deal with Mephisto and wanted to take it back, I wouldn't follow you if he had your mothers soul in his clutches, I wouldn't follow you"and the more fire star went down the list the higher her voice got and the higher her voice got the angrier she became and the more tears started coming out of her eyes only to evaporate till finally Steve broke the silence "it doesn't matter now Angelica everyone on earth better pray that we can stop these aliens because if not, this Earth will fall like all the other ones. 


	11. Chapter 11

ASTONISHING AVENGERS #11 By: Stephen Kelley Eventually after everyone left and things had settled down a bit Steve went to check on vision and Erica, "how are you both feeling" Erica spoke first "getting better, vision made the notation that I should be up in the next hour or so" "I said it was probable that you could be up in an hour or so not that you would"vision stated "as for me captain, my repair systems have quite adequately repaired my higher functions though sadly, I still will not be ready to assist you for quite some time"vision noted dropping a hint of remorse in his robotic tone. "Just take your time, no need to push yourselves"Steve said "designation: with the majority of the team gone I fail to see how me and Erica's recovery is not an urgent matter", Steve bowed his head looking at the ground for a moment thinking of the words to choose carefully. "In some ways vision I failed the team, Tony and I are supposed to be the leaders but the thing about it is that Tony's always been his own man only helping when it benefits him", "that's a flat out lie"Erica said noticing something was wrong with Steve. "Why don't you lay down a moment it'll take them time to recover and there's not really much to plan for as far as taking the other ships out"Erica convinced him, "besides I'm sure vision and I would enjoy your company and see if you're like the Steve Rogers from our world"she said turning to vision and giving a subtle gesture to the android. Vision picked up on her gesture and then gave a forced awkward smile "yes, we would most enjoy it" Steve laughed at visions smile "I think I like your face when it's just blank, we tried to do that when we issued new avengers ID cards one time and our vision couldn't quite understand the concept of "smiling" he felt very uncomfortable trying it" Steve stated jokingly as he laid down. After Steve laid down vision scanned his body and it was just as he and Erica had feared, that cap was being manipulated via a small nanite attached at the back of his skull knowing what this was vision carefully "cloaked" his scanner following a trace pattern that also led to Tony. "Designation: I do believe Erica that we must be careful for Iron Man and Capt. America are under the kal'thrakys control", "think you can phase into his mind and rip it out" "designation: that would not be a wise action, it will have... disastrous results"vision said recalling a painful memory. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to" "it is okay, I was just glad that I released her from her pain and torment"vision said as a small slit in his chest opened and he pulled out a locket, opening it to look at the picture inside before closing it and putting it back in the slit. Meanwhile in his bathroom Tony look like he was on the verge of having a seizure "Get out of my head"he said repeatably gripping his head and punching himself on the side of his skull recalling what the Queen had done to him and Steve despite the nanites interference, "you may have caused us to break the team, but you will not have us as slaves"Tony started screaming in agony as he slammed his head repeatedly on the sink causing Sam to grab him and face planted him into the floor so he couldn't hurt himself anymore. "Tony man are you crazy, what's with all this hollering and banging your head against stuff" Tony nearly threw Sam off except T'Challa helped Sam reinforce Tony onto the ground, "it is just as I thought, hold him tightly Sam"Black Panther said as he jabbed a finger through the back of Tony's skull. "Man what are you" "quiet"Black Panther commanded as he "severed" the nanite and helped Sam flip Tony over so him could "bleed it out", unfortunately both men were quickly ransacked by a now woken Steve "my Queen wants your heads, and I will gladly give them to her"Steve said his pupils pitch black and his irises a techno-colored orange. 


End file.
